


Exit Wounds

by BiologyGnome



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Blade of Marmora Keith (Voltron), Canon Universe, Lance with sword, Langst, M/M, Red Paladin Lance (Voltron), klangst, like seriously, season 6 trailer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-28
Packaged: 2019-05-18 16:55:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14856600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BiologyGnome/pseuds/BiologyGnome
Summary: Keith left the team, but not without leaving some wounds behind. Now he's back but Lance's scars are still fresh and he doesn't know if he's ready to ignore them.Based on that one interaction between Keith and Lance in the season 6 trailer.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I saw Keith and Lance's scene in the trailer and I just had too. Basically I came up with this theory when I wathced it and I know it's about as likely as Keith having a suicide confrontation in season 5 (still hoping for that one. I actually wrote a fic for that after season 4 came out so if you want me to post that let me know!) 
> 
> Anyway, just a short little idea I wrote to tide me over until next friday. Hope you enjoy!

Home. Keith was coming home. He hadn't been home since he purposely got himself kicked from the team, he didn't even call.

Lance spun around to a gladiator that had been creeping up behind him, gun shifting to a sword, and slashed through it's middle. He had been so proud when he had summoned the broad sword, so excited to show it off to Keith.

Lance slashed at another gladiator but the gladiator easily blocked him and pushed him back, pinning him down. “End training sequence.” He yelled, breathing heavily. He hated the sword now. Too much like Keith's, too much of a reminder of his absence. God, even when he was gone Keith was still better than him. He was probably thriving on the blade while Lance couldn't even use a fucking sword. Pathetic.

  
Lance hadn't known how to feel when Allura announced that Keith would be returning. He was happy, sure, but he was also furious. Furious that he had left them. Furious that he just got to waltz back. He slowly came back to focus and listened to Allura.

“He will be arriving soon but until then I would like you all to be training as a group. You are dismissed.”

Lance sighed. At least it would help distract him until Keith arrived.

  
It was about two hours later when Allura’s voice came on over the training room speakers. “Paladins, please make your way down to the hangar. Keith will be landing in a just a few ticks.” Lance took a deep breath. Act. Normal.

  
The Paladins stood in a line in front of the closed pod. Act normal. Lance repeated to himself. Just say nothing.

The pod door opened an Lance walked straight up to Keith. He'd waited for this for so long it almost didn't feel real. He tried, tried so hard to think about how happy he was but in the end he just couldn't forget his anger. He was almost face to face with Keith now. His raven hair, ivory skin, those intoxicating indigo eyes the color of a star filled sky at night. God he hated those eyes. It had been too long since he'd seen them. Before e knew what was happening Lance was talking. “Are you sure you're really Keith?” He taunted, smirking.  
But Keith barely gave him a glance. “I don't have time for this, Lance.” Muttered Keith angrily.

Lance's heart shattered, smirk dropping from his face, but it only took half a second for heart break to turn into anger. He turned back to the team and watched as Keith walked up to them. If he wanted to act like they barely even knew each other. Fine. Lance had played this game before he could play it again. “Hey everybody.” He said, voice heavy with sarcasm. “Keith's back!” His voice mocking.  
He'd done the rivals thing before but this time he was really bringing it.

Keith had been back in the castle for only two days and Lance had made them perhaps the most infuriating days in his life. Their relationship hadn't been this bad since before the “bonding moment.” (It had totally happened by the way) He spent the last few weeks thinking of Lance every moment of the day but now that he was back Lance seemed even farther away. It has always looked been jokes and memes with him but now his jokes were at his expense and his comments always had a bite to them now. When Keith had first arrived here he had a plan. Do what they want you two, don't socialize, don't get close again, you can't take another heartbreak when you have to go again so don't get close. But now he just wanted things to go back to normal. He wanted banter without the malice, to hang out as a team, to see Lance smile.

Keith sighed and walked into the dining room for lunch. He'd been so lost in thought that he hadn't even noticed he was late and was surprised when he walked into the room being full. Lance was on him right away.

“Well,” Lance said with a smirk, “Looks like _someone_ actually decided to show up.” Keith could barely take it anymore, every word from Lance’s mouth felt like a dagger in his heart. 

“Can you lay off?” He said, voice strained, looking away from Lance. He couldn't look him in the eyes. Seeing those deep blue eyes that had occupied so many of his dreams filled with so much hate hurt more than any snarky comment.

“What's wrong _mullet_. I'm just making an observation.” Lance retorted.  
That was the last straw. The last knife in his heart.  
Keith broke.  
“What is your deal?!” He looked straight at Lance now.

  
Lance heard those words and he rage tripled. After everything he did and he didn't even know what it was. That was it.  
“YOU LEFT!” He yelled back. “You left us.” He said, softer this time. He felt tears in the corners of his eyes. “We were your family! We were a family and you left me.” He was standing now. Keith looked stunned, the whole team did. He wiped at his eyes. “Whatever.” He said softly as he stormed to his room. Whatever.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge and Keith talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Just casually leaving this here right before season 6 comes out. I am literally the worse when it comes to procrastination.
> 
> Honestly at this point with all the info on what each episode is about and what not I know this totally and completely inaccurate but I had a lot of fun with it so I'm going to keep rolling with it even though season 6 is probably going to discredit everything in this fic.
> 
> Writing this has been slow going and I did write an ending but it really wasn't something I was proud of, more like a rushed nonsensical scramble to get it out before season 6 but at this point who cares? This is part of what was supposed to be the last chapter that I didn't totally rush on and it's short but it's all that I felt good enough about posting.
> 
> At this point I'm just going to keep rolling with this little fic because my boys deserve a happy ending. Anyway, hope you enjoy and remember that comments are a writer's life force.

Keith stood in the middle of the dining room, shocked. In fact, everyone was shocked. It wasn't like Lance to burst out like that, that was a Keith thing. But more importantly, no one knew that he'd felt that way.  
Keith remained frozen in his spot.  
And then a single tear fell. Just one at first, and then more. The silent kind, the type that could fall and fall without anyone hearing your pain.  
He shouldn't be crying, he knew that. Warriors were supposed to be stoic and strong. Crying just got you hurt in the end. Warriors don't cry.  
Keith knew all this and yet, tears still fell. He’d tried to remain distant and when he got too close he ran away. Relationships always ended up with him getting hurt so it was better to run before that happened, but here he was. His heart was broken again but this time he'd only brought it on himself and had just made everything so so much worse.

“Keith.” Pidge said softly. Keith's eyes turned from the empty doorway back to the group. He wiped his eyes.  
“I’m...I'm going to go train.” He said and walked out.  
“Wait!” Someone called out, but he didn't look back to find out who.

  
It had been hours since the exchange but there had been no signs of Lance. Finally the team went to bed one by one. Soon only Keith was left, still at it in the training simulator. With every clash of his blade against the cold metal of the gladiator Keith's scattered thoughts organized themself a little. He was angry but he wasn't sure who his anger was directed towards. This was normal. Sadness always quickly turned anger with him, only ever allowing a few hot tears to escape before rage consumed him. The only difference this time though was that there was that the ache in his heart hadn't left. It had been hours and yet his heartbreak was still fresh and nothing he was doing could help.  
He grunted at a slash of the gladiator that came a little too close for comfort. He lost his balance and fell, rolling at impact. “End training sequence.” He grunted through clenched teeth. He deactivated his blade but he did not move from his spot on the floor. He stared up at the smooth white ceiling of the training room.  
It was his fault. It always was. There had to be something wrong with him. Why else would everyone leave? He was a mistake, he only hurt the team. That's why he left, save them before they had to do it themselves.  
But then he came back, he held on to them. Keith hadn't saved the team because he hadn't left for good, he came back and now everything was falling apart. The team was cracking and it was all because he was too weak to leave them.  
Keith knew what he had to do.

  
Let it be known that Pidge had tried to go to sleep that night. She swear she had. But when she got to her room sleep evaded her. That's why Pidge was not in her room at around three am in the morning but rather in the hangar, modifying one of the castle pods. She was almost finished with her second attempt at a safer accelerated booster when she heard the sound of the hangar doors opening. Pidge shuffled out from her place behind the pod to get a better look.  
It was Keith, a small pack slung over his shoulder. He walked towards the front of the pod. Pidge walked up to him from behind. “What are you doing?” She asked, the hangar’s dim lights glinting on her glasses.  
Keith jumped and spun around, pulling his knife out.  
Weird, thought Pidge, Keith heard everything, he should of heard her walking up. Keith never let people sneak up on him, he must have been distracted.  
It took a moment for Keith to register who was in front of him before recognition crossed his expression and he put his blade back in it's sheath.  
“Pidge, I thought you went to bed.”  
“I did, then I came here to work on the pods.”  
Keith nodded awkwardly.  
“What about you? You probably lost track of time training but that doesn't explain why you're down here.”  
Keith glanced at his feet, “Late night walk?” He supplied sheepishly. He tried  
to hide his bag behind his back but Pidge was quick and snatched it from him.  
She rummaged through the bag. “Jacket, marmora suit, extra knifes, protein bars… Man must be a pretty long walk.” Deadpanned Pidge.  
“Yeah….” Keith said awkwardly.  
“Bullshit.” Said Pidge plainly.  
“Look...I messed things up by coming back, ok? Just let me fix this.”  
“I can't believe you.” She muttered. “I can't fucking believe you!” She shouted this time.  
“You know, once upon a time you gave me a lecture about team and family and because of it I found my family and kept the new one too. What happened to that Keith? I know your life has been fucked up ok? But that doesn't matter now ok, because you're not alone out here! You have a family, we're your family!  
“Look, you're right. You did fuck things up, but it wasn't by coming back. It was by leaving in the first place! And whatever this shit between you and Lance is, you got to fix it, because it's ripping us apart. He was hurt when you left, but he's really happy you're back. We all are. I missed you Keith.” There were tears in the corners of her eyes now. “Just… go talk to Lance. And if you still want to leave then, I can't stop you. Just please, don't give up on us yet.”

Keith stood, stunned. Pidge didn't get angry like that a lot, he knew she really meant it. He sighed, he knew she was right too. Keith knew he should probably respond to Pidge or attempt to comfort her or something but he'd always been shitty with words so he just gave her a silent nod and walked back towards the castle halls.  
“Oh, and Keith,” Pidge called out causing him to turn back towards her. “If you don't talk to him I will lock you both in a closet until you figure things out!”  
Keith laughed softly, emotional intervention aside, she was the same gremlin as always.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance have a talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, where do I start.  
> I am soooo sorry for the delay! This chapter was supposed to go up the weekend after season 6 and I've been telling myself every day since than, today is the day I finish it and post it, but every day I put it off until there was no time and told myself I'd do it tomorrow. When it finally wrote the chapter It just never sounded right, so I put it off even more. But! The chapter is finally here so yaaaay!
> 
> Next order of business, season 6! Ok, so I know it was like forever ago now but I haven't posted since then so let's talk about it. Wow, I was totally wrong about everything in this fic. When it first came out I was a little disappointed at the lack of Keith Lance interaction but overall everything was amazing! (Seriously though, if you ever feel worried about the future of Klance then just watch Jeremy at a panel cause he gives enough hints to make anyone believe Klance is cannon. 
> 
> I totally wish I had known about Keith's puppy for this fic. I know the fandom has already agreed on it's name but the dog's name is actually Hippo and no one can convince me otherwise. And I just have to say that the animation, especially of Keith's eyes, through out the season was just amazing!
> 
> That's pretty much everything! Thanks for sticking with me and enjoy! <3

Lance was awake. Lance was painfully, wait, no, excruciatingly awake. He'd tried to sleep but every time he closed his eyes Keith filled his mind and he felt all weird and queasy.  
So, Lance had been trying to distract himself in other ways. Right now his method of distraction was knitting. Lance had learned how to knit from his abuela when he was 7. He was terrible at it but she encouraged him to keep trying, guiding his small hands with her own. He'd stopped doing it when he was 12 but had taken it back up again when he started at the Garrison to help with stress and anxiety. On the days that the school walls felt a little too cold and foreign all he had to do was pick up a pair of needles to feel a little closer to home. 

Of course he never let anyone know.

When they arrived in space he'd stumbled upon a closet containing tailoring materials and had found some soft, colorful wool, or at least the altean equivalent and some old sticks which he cut down into needles. When they were god knows how many miles from earth it was the closest thing he could get to the sunny shores of Varadero Beach. It sounds ridiculous, but it worked.

Which brought him back to his bed, where he sat knitting a hat with some indigo wool. He wasn't exactly sure who it was he was knitting for yet, but at the moment he didn't particularly care.

He had just finished adding a band of red at the bottom of his hat when he heard a soft knock on the door.  
He ignored it.  
The person knocked again.  
Lance groaned. “Who is it?”  
“It's….uh Keith?” Said Keith, voice muffled by the door.  
Great. The last person he wanted to see right now.  
“Look...can we just talk?”  
Lance scoffed. There was no reason for him to give Keith the time of day, he should've left him waiting out in the hall for the rest of the night. But something Keith's voice was so small and unusual for the former red Paladin and eventually, Lance just caved.  
“Fine.” He got up to open the door for Keith. “What do you want?” He asked glaring.  
“I just wanted to say I'm sorry? For just leaving and then coming back? I get it if you're mad about it and I just wanted to let you know that I can leave if you want me to”  
Lance was caught off guard. “Wait, why would I want you to leave?”  
“Because I don't belong here? Whenever I'm here I screw everything up, for you and for the team. That's why you're mad….isn't it?”  
“What! No! I'm mad at you for leaving without saying anything your jerk! You just left us for no reason!”  
Now it was Keith's turn to be caught off guard. “I did what was best for the team! I wasn't a good Paladin and I was just getting in the way of you guys being able to do your jobs. Remember 6 paladins, 5 lions? I took care of it.”  
“What the _quiznak_ are you talking about! You didn't fix anything. Just because you stopped piloting a lion doesn't mean you had leave us!”  
Keith stared at Lance, utterly perplexed.  
“If I'm not a pilot _why_ would I stay?” Keith asked like it was the most obvious thing in the world, which to him it probably was.  
“Why would you stay?! Because you're part of our family Mullet! We care about you! I care about you!!”  
“Oh.” Keith said softly.

Family. The family he'd had before was fleeting at best, his father died when he was only 9 and from there he moved from foster home to foster home. When he'd arrived at the Garrison he'd met Shiro who had not only saved him from expulsion but had become a brother to him, of course Shiro left too, twice. And then there was his mother. Keith didn't know how to feel about her. He never really knew her when it mattered and now that she was here it was hard to let her back into his life, even if he understood why she left in the first place, it still hurt. Which, he guessed, was how Lance felt.

Lance took a deep breath, this conversation was testing his very limited patience. “Look, just...I don't expect for you to understand ok? Just...think about it? I need to get some sleep.”  
Keith had never thought about staying. Not really. Even before the whole Lance confrontation he'd never expected for his visit to the castle to be more than just a visit.  
But now, for the first time since he'd arrived, since before he'd even left, he wasn't so sure that he should leave.  
And he was pretty sure that was a good thing.  
“Hey Lance,” Keith turned back to Lance in the doorway, “thanks.” He gave Lance a small smile, light catching in his indigo eyes, and Lance's heart sped up in his chest.  
“Uh...yeah...you're welcome.”

  
Keith gave him a final nod and walked down the quiet hall leaving Lance at the entrance to his room. Family. He'd never thought that word would ever mean anything to him but here he was. The old wounds of the past still hurt and he had a feeling they'd keep hurting for a long time but something was different now, and it was kind of nice.

Lance took a second to gather his thoughts and let his heart slow down before returning to his own room and he couldn't help but smile. He wasn't sure what lay ahead tomorrow or the day after that, but something told him that it might just be alright. At least, for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading! Hope you enjoyed the fic! I had a lot of fun writing Pidge's part in the last chapter so i'm currently writing a Pidge-centric story, so keep an eye out for that. Until next time! And remember, comments give me life!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it! Comments fuel me so to leave me a message and I'll try to respond! This was originally supposed to be a short little one shot but my bous deserve a happier ending so I'm writing another chapter! Bye for now! <3


End file.
